


The Ultimate, Amazing, Spectacular Spider-Man

by peterpraker



Series: Spider-Man Extended Universe [2]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Peter Parker is a Mess, Social Consequences! Yay!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28011012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peterpraker/pseuds/peterpraker
Summary: Tell him there’s something better. Go ahead.Try.How he became New York's Favourite Spider-Themed Hero by Peter Benjamin Parker. He could sum his story up in one, glorious, hyphenated word: Spider-Man. He is the Ultimate, Amazing, Spectacular Spider-Man!
Series: Spider-Man Extended Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048561
Kudos: 2





	1. Survival Of The Fittest

**Author's Note:**

> Here, a Peter Parker spinoff story that's canon, but I can't guarantee that I'll remember a lot of things that were mentioned in the Kid-Arachnid saga because I haven't thought of anything for the past few days!

Alright, people, let’s do this one last time… my name is Peter B. Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the past nine years, I’ve been the one… and only… Spider-Man. I’m pretty sure you know the rest. With great power, there must also come great responsibility… all that important hero lessons. I saved a bunch of people, fell in love, had a cool sidekick who’s practically a spider-themed Nightwing at this point, and saved the city… and then I saved the city again. Again, and again, and again. But most of the time, I would usually have backup under the name of the Avengers… if the situation is just within their payroll. You know how cities are usually saved. The usual superhero stuff. City-wide epidemic, life-threatening apocalypse, and from a giant purple space grape in need of chapstick. We don’t really talk about it.

Look, I have a comic book, cereal, did a Christmas album at one point, _and_ I have the most _amazing_ theme song, courtesy of a group of my Spider-Fans, called, “Spectacular Spider-Man”. But after every beatdown, every heartbreak, every social consequences… I still _love_ being Spider-Man. I mean, who wouldn’t? So, no matter how many hits I take, I _always_ find a way to come back. Because the only thing standing between this city and oblivion is me. And a couple of other superheroes, but we won’t talk about ‘em this time. _This_ is where my story began. Tell me there’s something better. Go ahead. _Try._ How I spent the past nine years being New York’s Favourite Arachnid-Themed Hero by Peter Benjamin Parker. I could sum it up in one, glorious, hyphenated word: Spider-Man. I am the Ultimate, Amazing, Spectacular Spider-Man!

~~~

Peter’s never been so pumped for the first day of school, because, today, everything changes. He was gonna leave behind his old, wallflower ways, and be someone as popular as Flash’s group of friends.

He fit his long-sleeved shirt over his Spider-Man suit and pulled his blue shirt over it. Peter glanced at his bag, then slung it over his shoulder. He twisted the doorknob quietly and closed his door. With a deep inhale, ready for his new person as… well, _not_ Midtown’s Professional Wallflower again, he happily walked down the stairs, but quickly backed himself toward a wall.

“It isn’t getting any easier, Anna… we’re almost out of money,” May said, picking up her cup of tea and sipping on it.

“But May, I’m sure Ben left—”

“Ben Parker was many, many wonderful things.” Peter turned to his old portrait with Ben and sighed as quietly as possible, a tint of sorrow in his eyes. “But a financial wizard, he was not.”

May set her cup back down and sighed deeply. “I miss him so.” A few seconds of silence passed. Peter poked a small part of his face from the wall and pulled back. “Oh, but listen to me go on… we’ll manage. And please, not a word of this to Peter. I wouldn’t want him to be concerned…”

Peter cleared his throat, marching loudly on the spot to fake walking down the stairs. “Hey, Aunt May! How’s the most beautiful girl in Forest Hills this morning?” He walked over to her side of the table and kissed her on the cheek.

May chuckled, patting his shoulder. “Peter, now hurry off… you don’t wanna be late on your first day!” She passed him a paper bag for his lunch, and he headed out the door. 

He stopped by the door. “No, ma’am!” He quickly turned to the door, a small concerned look on his face as he stepped out of the door.

~~~

 _Alright… the Parkers are desperate for cold hard cash, but I’m not letting that spoil this moment, he thought as he walked through the foyer of Midtown High._ Peter paused, lost in thought of what he should do to be able to climb the social ladders of high school.

“Hey, Pete!”

“Harry, Gwen, how’d summer treat you?” Peter asked, heading toward the two.

“Science camp was fun,” she said.

“Yeah, well, the world tour _stunk._ My dad spent the whole trip locked in the boardroom, so, I spent mine locked in bored-om. Should’ve stayed in town with you, Pete. Then at least we could’ve done nothing together.” Peter tried his best to keep a smile, knowing full-well that they wouldn’t be doing that, thanks to being Spider-Man. “So! Are you ready for the torture that is Chem class?”

Peter turned around, and someone caught his eye—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl. “It’ll be different, now… _much,_ much different.” 

“Really? ‘Cuz… you’ve spent, like, half of Sophomore year stuffed in a locker.” Peter didn’t say anything. He just kept on staring.

“You don’t think he’s looking at _the_ Sally Avril?” Gwen whispered to Harry.

“Uh… Pete?” Peter slowly started walking toward Sally. “Where you going?”

To face my destiny, he answered through his mind. Peter Parker’s a wall-*crawler*, not a wall*flower*. And my life is a bout to change… “U-uh, S-Sally?” he placed his messenger bag beside her.

“What’s he…? You don’t think—?” Harry placed a hand on his forehead. 

“I think he is…” Gwen couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

“Are you _damaged?_ ”

Both Gwen and Harry cringed, knowing what was about to go down. “He did,” they both said.

“Why in the world do you think I’d _ever_ go out with Midtown High’s Champion Geek?” Sally pointed an accusing finger at Peter.

“Hey, Rand! Puny Parker’s hitting on your girl,” Flash said, placing an elbow on Randy’s shoulder.

“Wha—I, I—Rand, I didn’t know you two were—”

“‘S cool.”

“ _Cool?_ You don’t _care?_ ” Sally then poked at his chest.

“Why? You _wanna_ go out with him?” Rand asked, unamused.

Sally turned to Peter, as if he was the reason unfortunate things happened to her. “I _want_ to walk on a Parker-free planet, thank you very much!”

The crowd that gathered started laughing. Flash grabbed at the collar of Peter’s shirt and pulled him closer. “Lucky you don’t try this with _my_ girl, Parker. If your geek sweat got within one mile of Liz—”

“Back off, Flash. I won’t be your punching bag anymore. Things have changed.”

Flash responded to that by glancing around his shoulder. Kenny was already on all-fours behind Peter. He smirked, pushing him toward Kenny, making him fall over. The crowd started laughing even more. Kenny grabbed his lunch from his bag and took his sandwich, then passed it to Flash, who took out a slice of pound cake from the paper bag. He took a bite, then turned to Randy. “You hear him threaten me, dude? Nerd thinks he’s _Spider-Man._ ” A beat passed, then he said, “Hm. Pound cake.”

Peter kept staring at them in disbelief, then scrambled to his bag and looked over to his bag. He huffed a sigh, clicking his tongue.

“My lunch!”

~~~

“Chapter one by tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen!” The class started getting up from their seats and headed to the door. Peter picked up his biology book and started to get up. “Mr. Parker. Ms. Stacy. A word.”

Peter and Gwen exchanged glances, then turned to Mr. Warren. “I wonder if either of you remember the field trip we took last year. To the laboratory of Dr. Curtis Connors? At Empire State University?”

Peter took a small glance at his right hand. The mark was still there. He quickly rubbed both hands together and chuckled. “Trust me—that’s one field trip I’ll never forget!”

Gwen stood up. “Me, neither! Dr. Connors’ research was thrilling!”

“I’m glad you feel that way. Because he’s offering two internships to promising highschoolers. I recommended my two star pupils. You’ll start this afternoon.”

Peter and Gwen turned to each other, small smiles blossoming on their faces.

~~~

“Thanks for letting me kill time at your place, Harry,” Peter sighed, leaning back on the couch. “I’m not due at the ESU lab for another hour.”

“I’m just surprised you’re not hanging around the school for the paper. Aren’t you their star photographer?” Harry sat down beside him.

“Not anymore. Someone else can take pictures of Flash prancing around the gridiron. _I’ll_ be too busy rakin’ in the green!” 

“Is this part of the same reality where Sally Avril herself is your—?”

“A _minor_ setback.” Peter didn’t want to be reminded of the incident that took place just a few hours ago. He didn’t even know how or why he did it, and what kind of mindset got him to that point, but now, he just wanted to have it erased from his memory. “ _But,_ at least the lab job can solve the Parker Money Problems! I mean—look around! All this belongs to your dad, and he’s a scientist! Well, ex-scientist, current mayor.”

“Boys! Come out here.” Peter rubbed his forehead. Harry exhaled deeply. Peter and Harry walked out of the door to the balcony, where Norman had his fingers tapped together outside on a chair with his laptop. “I couldn’t help overhearing.”

Harry looked miserable by the time they reached the balcony. Peter stepped forward. “I’m sorry, Mr. Osborn, I—”

Norman sat up. “Don’t you _dare_ apologize, son. _I_ never do. So what’s this about a lab job?”

“At ESU working with Curt Connors,” Peter answered. Harry looked down, a sick look on his face.

“Connors, huh? Quite an opportunity!” Norman then turned to Harry, an eyebrow raised. “Don’t suppose _you_ were considered for the honour, Harry?”

Harry looked up. “N-no, sir.”

“But it’s totally not a big deal, Mr. O. Really!” Peter patted Harry’s back. “We’ll, uh… we’ll get out of your way, now.” 

“ _OSBORN!!!_ ” Peter turned to look around, the sound of whirring wind entering his ears. The group of three looked up to see a man with a ridiculously large pair of wings. 

“Dad…” Peter and Harry run toward the edge of the balcony. “What do we do? I—”

“Call the cops! Do it, go!” Harry nodded and headed off to the penthouse. Peter quickly slipped his shoes off at the side of the balcony and sighed. “ _Please_ don’t disappear when I get back, shoes…”

He hopped onto the railings of the balcony, took a deep breath, and jumped.

~~~

Peter spotted the silhouette of a person falling. Osborn, he assumed. With his webs, he zipped toward Osborn and caught Norman, gripping his side. “Whoah, guys, you play hot potato hardcore!”

“W-what _is_ this?!” The winged man shouted. “These skies are mine, now!”

“You may be right. I really just rent,” Peter said, swinging through the city.

“What are you babbling about? Put me down!”

“ _Dude._ You are the _bossiest_ damsel in distress I have ever rescued. Also, the ugliest, heaviest, and the first.” 

“WHO ARE YOU?!” Norman and the winged person shouted.

“Why, I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, of course!” Peter leapt onto a building wall to try and readjust Norman in his grip and continued swinging.

“ _Spider-Man?_ I thought you were a myth!” 

“Man, I need a new press agent.” Vulture flew through his webbing, cutting it with his wing. Peter shot a new web. “Heads up!” he shouted at the police from below. He dropped him down and continued swinging, movement smoother than ice. 

The winged person swooped down and tried to nab Norman with his talons, but missed, his wings cutting through the buildings because of how big they were. “Look, Beaky, I admire _anyone_ who dresses up as their favourite animal. Better so, you can _fly!_ ” Peter zipped in front of Vulture and started swinging backward. “So, I gotta ask… you ever heard of the “great power, comes great responsibility”?”

The man groaned as he flew right past Peter. Peter zipped to a wall. “Whoah, Beaky, don’t fly away mad!”

“THE NAME IS VULTURE!”

~~~

“That’s great, Harry, I’m glad your dad’s safe…” Peter said, stepping out of the bus and walking up the steps to the ESU Lab. “M-me? Well, uh, I tried to follow him on foot. I ran for blocks, but… yeah, I guess that’s kinda useless.” He pulled up the sleeves of his shirt and sighed, putting it into his bag. Peter slowly walked up the stairs, where Gwen stood by the door. “Uh—hey, look, I’m late. And, uh, Gwen’s giving me the look… bye.”

“I so was _not_ giving you the look,” Gwen said.

Peter opened the door for Gwen. “But I _am_ late, right?”

“Always, Bro.” Peter and Gwen quickly turned to where the voice came from. A blonde-haired blue-eyed burly man stepped forward.

“ _Eddie!_ ” Gwen ran in for a hug.

“Hey, Gwen.”

“Bro, what’re you doing here?”

“Work here. I’m the Connors’ personal lab assistant! Not bad for a frosh, huh?” Eddie explained.

Peter chuckled, a smug look on his face. “Eddie Brock’s a freshman.”

“ _College_ freshman, little man. But I’m guessing you miss me at Midtown High, huh? No one to keep Flash Thompson off your back?” Eddie jabbed a finger at Peter’s feet. He and Gwen looked down to see only socks. He made a mental note to remember his shoes the next time he decided to jump off a building without his shoes. “Stole your shoes again, huh?”

Eddie turned around and spotted a red-haired lady. He cleared his throat. “Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, I’d like you to meet Dr. Martha Connors.”

“Eddie’s told me great things about you both.”

Eddie placed a hand in front of his mouth, directing his voice toward Peter. “Says you wore clean underwear. Lucky I didn’t say socks,” he whispered.

“Curt! Stop hiding in the office—new interns are here!” Martha called.

“I’ll be right out!”

Connors walked out the door. “Peter, Gwen, this is ESU’s resident genius, my husband, Curt.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Dr. Connors.” Peter held out his right hand. He cringed the second remembered Curt had a prosthetic arm that didn’t work. He was already committed to the motion, and didn’t want to be awkward, so he awkwardly shook his left hand.

“You look familiar, son… weren’t you the boy that was bitten—?”

“By the science book!” Peter interrupted. “You know it!”

“Now, we won’t overdo it the first day, Eddie will show you around the lab. The real work can start tomorrow,” Martha said.

“So, questions, welcome,” Eddie said, leading them toward the glass containers that had lizards inside.

“Here’s one. Uh, what does this gig pay?” Peter asked.

Eddie laughed. “Pete, you’re a high school kid with zero experience. You’re not getting paid.”

Peter sadly glanced at the lizard in the containers.

~~~

“Aunt May needs my help… I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Peter huffed a sigh.

A bus pulled up in front of them. Gwen placed a hand on his shoulder. “Pete, don’t angst, okay? It’ll come to you.” She got on the bus and it drove off.

Peter stood there, silent for a brief moment as the bus drove off. “Well? I’m waiting—!” he was cut short when a newspaper flew into his face. It was a Daily Bugle paper. An idea surfaced in his mind. “Well… gotta admit. Girl knows her stuff…”

~~~

Great. Just perfect. Today has been a one-stop shop for disappointment for Peter. No money at home, no “cool” at school, he nearly pavement-splatted fighting a whacko with wings. And now, Daily Bugle security won’t even let him use the elevators. But May and Ben Parker didn’t raise no quitters. Any quitters—you get the idea.

Peter slid open the window of the storage closet and crawled through, heading toward the door and opening it.

“Robbie! Where’s my layout? Foswell, I ordered that rewrite twelve seconds ago! Lee, I’m not paying you to sit on your keyster! And _you!_ ” Peter was taken aback when Jonah jabbed a finger at his direction. 

“M-me?” Peter asked. Jonah grabbed the collar of his shirt and started walking toward his office.

“I sent you for my bagel and schmear nine minutes ago!”

“You sent Benny, Mr. Jameson, and it’s only been three minutes,” Betty said.

Peter raised a finger. “Uh—actually, sir, I’ve got something _better_ than a bagel.”

Jonah let go of his shirt and turned around. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

“A proposal. I think I can get you pictures—photos! Of Spider-Man… in _action!_ ” Peter chuckled a little. “I bet it’d sell a lot of newspapers!”

“What do you know about selling papers, you’re a kid! Worse, you’re a teenager!” Jonah shouted at Peter’s face, spit flying everywhere. “Ms. Brant, call security! Get this wailing infant out of my face, out of my city room, out of my town!” As he said that, two security guards grabbed Peter’s arms and escorted him toward the elevator. He turned to Robbie. “Hey. What the Bugle needs is photos… of Spider-Man, in action! Now _that’d_ sell newspapers, huh?”

Peter groaned. Today officially _reeked._

~~~

Not one thing’s gone right. And now, the Amazing Spider-Man is reduced to—sneaking around! _For his shoes!_ Peter groaned loudly as he turned to his right. His shoes were still there, so he picked it up and placed it in his bag. Gross. It’s gonna reek of shoe the next time he opens it in class. Something else caught his attention as he stuffed his shoes into his bag. The familiar voice that shouted, “ _OSBORN!!!_ ”

“You won’t get away from me, this time!” Peter flipped off of his web and swung after Vulture.

“My thoughts exactly,” Peter thought. As Vulture drew nearer to the car, Peter swung in and swing-kicked him to the side. “Trick or treat! I mean—you _are_ celebrating Halloween in September, right? Or am I not one to talk?”

Peter shot a web at Vulture’s talon. Vulture started flying around, trying to get him to hit a wall. Instead, he managed to evade by running around or vaulting. He did a small celebration, only to realize he was headed toward a spiked object. He managed to jump over it as he leapt off of the building he was on and managed to hang onto the strand of web.

The familiar buzz of his skull, as a result of any incoming danger came on—but he didn’t know where.

“Whoah—my spider-sense is tingling—!” Peter was cut short when he was caught in a green net of sorts. He first tried to free himself by pulling at it. Seeing as it didn’t work, he shot a web at a nearby gargoyle. The good, he managed to stop his fall. The bad, the gargoyle dropped down with him. The miracle, he dropped onto a building, so he wouldn’t be _as_ severely injured as he expected. He quickly rolled over to his left when the gargoyle fell after him. He broke free from the net and spotted a helicopter headed his way.

Peter was kicked by one of the slimmer one of the two and was thrown back into the burly one’s loving arms. Literally. “Look—pal, if you needed a breath mint… you just had to ask.”

He shot a web at both ends of the big man’s moustache and pulled. The slimmer man, now armed with a bo staff of sorts, charged at him. Peter flipped off of the burly man and shot a web at the other’s bo staff. Nothing worked. He just kept dodging it. “Wow—look at _you,_ Twinkle Toes! Breakin’ out all the fancy moves!”

The two engaged in a close-quarters combat fight, ending with Peter getting thrown back by a kick. He landed on all-fours and turned to see the big guy ready to hit him with his giant arms. Peter shot two webs, but it broke off. “Oh… that’s not good.”

He flipped over the big man, but was grabbed by the leg and thrown across the rooftop. Peter got up, but the sound of a helicopter blade whirring entered his ears. He backpedaled, but turned to see a green laser shot at his heel. “ _Ah-ah-ah, boys need a work out, now no turnin’ tail!_ ”

“Wha—now, seriously, who are you guys?!” Peter shot a web at the agile man and threw him at the burly one, knocking him out. Peter waved goodbye as he flipped off of the building. “‘S not that I’m running, but there’s a Vulture guy out there—so if we could just postpone—”

The big guy grabbed him just as the two of them were falling. “You’re strong—point taken—but can you do _this?_ ” Peter managed to do a flip and pressed his soles against the building, throwing the man off. “Didn’t think so.” Peter shot a web at his hands and attached it to the wall. “Now, I know you can tear right through it… but I wouldn’t recommend it!”

He started swinging and spotted Vulture tearing through the roof of the limousine. “You will apologize!” Vulture shouted.

“I won’t!” Norman shouted back.

Peter tore through the door of the car and flipped in, sitting down. “Man, this is a _sweet_ ride! Sunroof come standard?” He pounced off of his seat and tackled Vulture out of the roof of the limo. 

“Why did you defend that thief, Osborn?!” Vulture used his wing to slash at Peter’s chest, tearing through his Spider-Man suit.

“ _Un_ cool! You know how many hours I’ve spent on this?” Peter swung after Vulture, dodging the green lasers that were shot at him from the helicopter from earlier. He’s never fought these group of people, but one thing he knows for sure is that he couldn’t let Harry lose his dad the way he lost Uncle Ben. He bounced off of the wall and landed on Vulture’s back, balancing himself. “Surf’s up! Woohoo!”

The limo drove into the nearby carpark. “ _NOOOO!!!_ ” He flew upward, knowing he wouldn’t be able to catch up to Norman under a roofed sky. “This is all _your_ fault!”

Peter made a left with his swinging and spotted the helicopter in front of him just as Vulture had flown at him. “Two birds… one stone.” He directed himself toward a glass building and hopped upward just in time for Vulture to have his wing stab the building. He dove off of the wall and swung toward the bottom of the helicopter. Vulture tore his wing off of the wall and flew to the bottom of the helicopter.

“Did you really think you could hide from me there?!” Peter bounced off of the bottom of the helicopter and directed his wing toward the tail rotor, taking down both the helicopter and Vulture’s wingsuit, rendering it useless.

With that, Peter swung Vulture to safety.

~~~

Peter hung Vulture on a traffic light. He went to investigate the helicopter, but saw that nobody was there. “Well… three outta four ain’t bad… especially on bizarre bad guy night. Now, if I can just get my shoes…”

~~~

Peter crawled to his bedroom window, only to see May sitting on his bed. Perfect end, to a perfect day.

He opened the door to his house, expecting his aunt to lecture him. Shoes in hand, he made a left to his stairs only to see May heading down the stairs. “Aunt May! You’re… awake!”

“Sit down, Peter, we need to talk…” May placed her hand on his back and directed him to the kitchen. “I know you’re a good boy… growing up to be a fine young man. Man of the house, now. But you’re still my responsibility… I can’t have you out ‘til midnight! You oughta be home by 10 o’ clock. That’s my bedtime.”

“Aunt May…”

May raised a hand. “If you’re late… you call. Before ten. If you _do_ call, it’d better be to say you’re on your way home. That’s the law in this house, Peter. Do we understand each other?”

Peter paused for a brief moment, wondering how this would get in the way of his Spider-Man career. He sighed and gave a small smile. “Sure, Aunt May. That’s fair.”

“Lovely.” May turned around and placed a plate of pie down in front of him. “Now, how about a slice of banana cream pie?”

Okay… _nothing_ went as planned today. Understatement of the year. But, he’s still Spider-Man, and still undefeated. And he still has this _amazing_ person watching out for him. Tell him there’s something better. Go ahead. _Try._


	2. Tutoring Is Fun / Time Square Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter accepted a choice to teach Liz—one of the failing students—but was only met with pure disgust. The only good thing about the tutor session was that she actually bothered to show up. And just when he had fun being ignored, a hooded figure with a strange-looking mask walked past them. It was suspicious enough to get a certain Spider-Man on the case.

“In nature, _everything_ is connected.” As Connors spoke, Peter and Gwen directed their attention away from the eel tank and toward the man. He fitted the glove with his prosthetic arm and picked up a hook. “As scientists, we explore and expand upon those connections to the benefit of society.”

The two teenagers exchanged glances, smiling at each other, then turned to Eddie, who said, “We’re experimenting with genetically altered electric raze in eels!”

Connors pressed a button that brought out the tank toward the group, then headed up the stairs to be able to reach in the tank, picking up an eel with the hook. “Think what it would mean if we could harness this bioelectricity… generate an alternate form of energy! A-a new clean source of power.” 

Peter leaned toward the tank to inspect the green fluid stuck to the walls of the tank, knocking softly on it. “That sounds great, but, uh… you might wanna clean the tank.”

Eddie chuckled. “It’s clean. The fluid—I call it “Sludge”—increases the eel’s bioelectric signatures!”

“Yes.” Connors walked down the stairs to the side of a man, who seemed to be working on what seemed to be the filters. “In fact, those very signatures have become so intense, we’ve been forced to upgrade the lab’s bioelectrical filters.”

The man cleared his throat, picking up a drill. “ _We’ve_ been forced?”

“Uh—I stand corrected.” Connors gave a small smile at the guy, who was drilling the bolts at the filters, then turned to the group. “We’re forcing Max here to upgrade.”

Max turned to the group. “All I’m sayin’.”

“Curt? I need to get Billy to bed,” Martha said, her hand on the shoulder of a blonde kid.

“Sorry, Honey, I lost track of time.”

“You? No. I’m shocked.” Martha walked over to her husband and kissed him on the cheek.

“I have to wait for Max to finish, but, uh, you go ahead. Take Billy home.”

“Uh, you might send Peter and Gwen home, too. It _is_ a school night—”

Connors blinked, registering the sentence. “Oh, right, right… go on, you two.”

With that, Peter and Gwen headed out the door. Just as they had climbed down the steps, his ringtone started playing. He quickly whipped out his phone. “I-It’s my Aunt May’s early warning system… I have to call her if I’m not back home by ten.” Gwen nodded. Peter pulled the phone to his ear. “H-Hey, Aunt May, sorry for running late, we just left the lab… I’m gonna make sure Gwen gets home safe, and then I’m on my way.”

~~~

Connors pulled a small tube that contained a green substance out of the small box that contained all of it and placed it under the microscope, looking into it. The cells were… growing. He picked up the small tube and looked at it. Lizard Formula. It might just be the cure to his… arm issue. 

The sound of a drill broke him out of his trance and he turned to see Max putting the drill on top of the filter and pulled out a filter slide. Connors quietly placed the formula into his lab coat pocket. Eddie turned away from his computer to look. 

The struggle to pull out one of the filters had caused the drill to fall onto one of the monitors, short-circuiting it. Max, still unaware of the short-circuit, touched his drill. A powerful surge of electricity coursed through his veins as it forced him onto the eel tank. He let out an agonizing scream of pain as the water in the eel tank broke out, with electricity conducted everywhere.

~~~ 

Just another average day of being your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Being late to school. “Ugh, curse my lack of ability to _not_ stop a mugging, and now, I’m gonna be late! And I’m not even sure my spider-powers can save me from another late attendance!”

Peter flipped onto the train to Manhattan and bounced off of it, catching a flight with the help of a helicopter. Once he reached the familiar buildings of Manhattan, he dropped off of his webbing and zipped through the sky, flipping onto a nearby building, only to hear the faint sound of his school bell. He groaned. “You know, just _once_ I’d like to be early for school. I never got those chances since Spider-Man!”

~~~

Peter peeked around the corner of his biology class. His teacher still was looking at test papers, but he could clearly tell that Mr. Warren knew about his tardiness. He briskly walked toward his desk, only to be distracted by Flash. “Spider-Man in action!” he said.

Peter quickly glanced down at his shirt to see a portion of his suit still exposed, thanks to his shirt being folded upward. He quickly pulled it down. “It’s not what you think!” he blurted out, catching everyone’s attention.

“It is, too, Doofus!” Flash flipped over his newspaper to show the headline, poking at it. “Says so right here. The Daily Bugle’s offering major fundage for a photo of Spider-Man in action!”

“Oh. Then, it is what you think.” Peter pulled the chair out to sit down beside Harry and Gwen, then paused to register the sentence. He quickly sat up straight. “Hey, wait, that was _my_ idea!”

Gwen leaned over to him. “Looking foolish in biology class?”

“No, the spider picture thing!” Peter gestured toward Flash’s newspaper, comically held aloft. “I told that big mouth Bugle guy to—”

Harry placed both his hands on Peter’s shoulders. “Take photos of someone famous? Yeah. That _is_ revolutionary.”

The school bell rang. “Alright, class. Settle down. I know you’re all eager to get yesterday’s test back.” The whole class—aside from Peter and Gwen, groaned loudly.

“C-minus? Sweet!” Flash presented it proudly at his girlfriend’s direction. “The Flash completes another pass!” He leaned toward Liz’s direction to see that she had a D-minus.

“Nice job, Mr. Parker. Another A-plus.” 

Peter looked at his test paper, trying his best to seem surprised just to rub it on Flash’s face. Flash took notice of it and growled. He looked at his pigskin that laid on top of his desk. A mischievous smile spread across his face as he lifted it, ready to throw. Peter sensed it—thanks to his spider-sense—and purposefully dropped his paper. “Oops!” He bent over to pick up his test paper and watched as the pigskin hit Mr. Warren on the head. He smirked at his accomplishment. Two wins for a day that started terribly. 

“Mr. Thompson.” Mr. Warren said, not even bothering to turn around. Flash quickly buried his face in the Daily Bugle newspaper. 

~~~

Biology class ended, and Peter had just finished placing his things in his bag when Mr. Warren said, “Mr. Parker, Ms. Allen. A moment, please?”

Peter stopped, because he was just in front of Mr. Warren. Liz groaned, taking a few steps toward the teacher. “Liz, if you’re going to raise those grades, you need a tutor. And I’m recommending Peter for the job.” Liz glanced at her friends.

“Ugh, Nerd is _so_ not the hot accessory this year,” Sally commented.

Flash scoffed. “Quality time with Puny Parker? I’d rather fail.”

Liz turned back to Mr. Warren. “Study with Petey? Ugh, I don’t think so.” Peter had his mouth slightly open. Liz gasped. “Couldn’t Flash tutor me instead?”

Mr. Warren continued to stare at her, unamused. “I’m sure you understand. We want your grade to go _up._ ” 

Mr. Warren walked toward his desk, and Liz waited for Peter to turn to her, just to flick her hair at him. 

~~~

“See, the chapter’s really about how biological systems interact,” Peter said, looking up from the textbook, only to see Liz typing away on her phone.

She scoffed. “Anything in there about how biological systems are _boring?_ ”

“Yeah… dullsville, right? I mean, who wants to waste their time with a textbook?” Peter quietly placed the textbook down.

“What a coincidence! Flash _just_ texted me those _exact_ words!” Liz jabbed a finger at his direction. “About _you, Petey._ ”

“Yeah—well—maybe if you could just stop texting Flash for just a minute…?”

“Good idea! I’ll call him instead.” Liz dialed Flash’s number and placed her phone at her ear. He tried his best to stay calm. Otherwise, he would have just smacked his head against the table. As he looked around to distract himself from the current situation, a hooded man with a strange mask walked past him. Something about him seemed… off. Especially the way he walked. He jittered everywhere, and at least one knee would occasionally give way. One might be surprised the guy even _had_ bones by the way he jittered. It definitely set his spider-senses off. 

“Oh, yeah… I’ll be fluent in Geek.” 

Just over a minute or so had passed, and the man ran out the cafe. Uh oh. Thug alert. And just when Peter was having so much fun being ignored. He quickly slung his bag over his shoulder and placed a hand on the table. “Hey—look, this tutoring thing is something you need, not me. So when you’re ready to learn, let me know.” 

He quickly walked off, leaving Liz with her mouth comically agape.

~~~

Peter flipped onto one of the walls of a building near Time Square. “Seriously… either this guy can fly, or I just can’t find the dude.” He was about to jump in, but he stopped when he saw the guy getting tear gas thrown his way. 

“I SAID _STOOOOOOOPP!!!!_ ”

His electricity discharged, blowing all the cars away. Peter managed to flip into the scene just in time as the car that was blown off was about to hit a cop. “Glad you’re not one of those cops that rides a horse.”

The cops that hid behind the cars started shooting at the man, but every bullet would disappear without a trace the second it reached a few feet in his radius. Peter dropped the car and flipped onto the hood of the car. “Yo, Captain Sparkle Fingers! Hey, how you doing?” 

To be honest, Peter was kind of excited. This was his first-ever super-powered villain. That is, if the guy even _is_ a villain. “It’s you…”

“Yeah, I know it’s me!” Peter said, hopping off of the car. “Y’know—this is the _first_ time I’ve ever encountered a guy like you, who _actually_ acknowledges me, instead of thinking me as a myth!”

“I don’t know what’s going on with me…” The man said.

“I see you, I, I believe you.” Peter readied himself into a stance, wary of the guy’s electrified abilities. “I can see that you’re scared, you—you don’t know what’s happening, you don’t wanna hurt anybody. You’ll be alright.”

The snipers from above Time Square steadied their aim toward the hooded man. “Got a clear shot, standing by.”

“I don’t want them shooting at me.”

“Okay.” Peter slowly turned to the many snipers he could see, thanks to his enhanced vision. “You guys! This is my buddy, no one shoots at him!” He spotted the man taking a step forward and quickly spun to face him. “Whoah, whoah, stay right there—the grate, the electricity, just…”

“He makes a move, you take that shot.”

The figure looked around. “How ‘bout you come with me, we’ll go somewhere, we’ll talk. Away from all these people, ‘kay?” Peter had suddenly remembered the crowd. The only pain in this encounter is that civilians could get hurt. Then again, superheroes were still relatively new in the year 2010, which is most likely the cause of this crowd. The new introduction to superheroes. The man slowly nodded, taking a step backward. He stepped on water, and the electricity reacted violently to the water, strangely, causing the snipers to start shooting. “GUYS, WAIT, NO—!”

The figure, angered by the shot, turned to the many snipers and shot a beam of electricity, causing the many billboards of Time Square to malfunction. Peter instinctively shot a web to get him to not attack more people, but the electricity moved through his web and threw him back, short-circuiting his left web-shooter. One of the billboards broke off. Peter, thanks to his reflexes, managed to shoot the guy and pull him out just in time.

“Spidey! Spidey! Spidey!” The crowd started cheering. 

“Electro dummy! You freak! Stupid loser! Boo!” A portion of the crowd jeered.

“SHUT UP!” The figure shouted back. He slowly started to look at the billboards that turned from him to Peter. The electricity started to crackle around him. He lied to him. They weren’t going to talk peacefully. They shot at him. The crowd was hating on him. Spider-Man was just using him to gain publicity. He could already see the headline. “Spider-Man saves yellow freak”. Rage bubbled up in him. “You’re so selfish…” he quietly said.

“Stay with me, bud!” Peter said, cautiously stancing. 

“You set me up…!”

“No I didn’t set you up!” Peter shouted over the crowd.

“You _LIED_ to me!” Electricity started to crackle around the figure’s hands. His voice grew distorted.

“No, I’m trying to help you, let me help you!” Peter shouted.

The man got onto his knees as electricity sparked around his fingers. That Spider-Man… is dead to him. He is his _enemy._ He roared as he forced his hands onto the grate, causing electricity to conduct through to Peter’s feet. He managed to flip off of it just in time, but the car was flipped toward him.

Peter backflipped, and, as if in slow motion, he spotted people going up the Time Square stairs… even if it led to nothing. He glanced at his fried web-shooter. Only one, thankfully. Two people were about to hold onto the railings. With the situation analyzed, Peter was able to think quickly by pressing at the nozzle of his web-shooters, splitting it into two and attaching it to the railings of the stairs. He flipped over and shot a web for his left hand to hold onto. He used it to latch onto the man’s hand, then turned to the lady and shot a web at her hand. He pulled as hard as he could, being able to pull their hands away from the now-electrified railings. He landed on top of the stairs, trying his best to maintain his shaky self in order to stand up heroically.

His phone started to ring. “Ugh, perfect…” Peter flipped off of the stairs to avoid the incoming electricity. He flipped to the back of a billboard, hoping it would buy him enough time. “Hey, Aunt May!”

“ _Peter, it’s almost ten!_ ”

“Yeah—yeah, I know! That’s—that’s why I’m calling. Um, I’ve been tutoring.” He dodged a shot of electricity by flipping over the billboard. “It’s slow-going, but, uh, I’ll be home soon.”

“ _I hope so, the weatherman predicted rain. You don’t have your umbrella!_ ”

“Somehow, I doubt an umbrella would help…” Peter quickly realized he was referring to his battle, and he wouldn’t know how to twist it to make it seem innocent. “Ah—I mean, it’s not raining here yet. Bye-love-you-Aunt-May-see-you-in-a-bit!”

Peter flipped off of the billboard and shot a web at the figure, sticking him to a wall. He pulled out his camera. “Say Spider-Man!” Peter started taking photos. He turned to the figure. “Wonderful! You are a very cooperative guy, but you know, I can’t get a good mugshot if you’re wearing _this—!_ ”

Peter shot a web, pulling out his mask, only to reveal an electrified head, with only a jaw being able to be seen to define his “humanly” figure. Along with eyes, a nose, and mouth. “You shouldn’t have done that!” the man shouted. He slowly turned to Peter. 

“You _REALLY_ shouldn’t have done that…”


	3. Time Square Showdown Pt. 2 / Another Day For Peter Parker

Peter figured that his webbing wouldn’t be of use anymore, seeing as the mask was off, and his electricity _did_ basically fry his web-shooters. He shot a web at a fire hydrant and spun it in a circle to try and gain momentum. “Alright, Electro… let’s see what you can do with this!”

He threw it at the man, but he retaliated by shooting a beam of electricity toward Peter, throwing him across Time Square and into a bus stop. The fire hydrant thankfully managed to hit the man, but it threw him onto one of the bigger billboards of Time Square. 

The man looked around, sensing the running people’s electrical signatures. He growled as he picked out one of the cables. He glanced at it, then grabbed another one of the cables. With the fried cables, he forced them onto his chest, electricity crackling around him. He let out a loud roar as electricity started charging him up. Like a battery.

All of the light in Time Square turned off, leaving only the light of the moon and the cop cars. A few seconds of silence passed. The silence was eerie. Then, the silence was filled with an electrical discharge, destroying almost half of Time Square and causing billboards to fall down. The man slowly lifted himself out of the billboard. He was flying. A smirk spread across his face as he started shooting out electricity everywhere. 

Peter managed to think quickly. He was glad he had the idea of analyzing the situation first before coming up with a plan. Because what he did was pull a hose from a firetruck and shot water at the hovering figure, causing his electricity to be rendered useless. “Alright… pleasure doing business with you, pals.”

“Alright, Lightning Butt, I’m—” he paused when he saw that the guy wasn’t there. “All alone…”

~~~

Peter sighed as he placed his suit into the closet. He could still feel the tingles of the electricity occasionally cause him to jitter about. He picked up his fried web-shooter. It was still hot, but not hot enough for it to be touchable. “Another issue to fix later…”

He pulled out his MP3 Player and played Queen music. He caught a glimpse of his father’s old briefcase at his closet. He moved toward it, but paused. He shouldn’t… but it was one of _those_ moments where he’d dig up childhood photos and just look at them at night. He sighed, taking out the briefcase and emptying its contents.

Peter picked up his calculator and paused, looking at it. A piece of paper that had the word, “Roosevelt”. “Roosevelt…” he whispered. He didn’t even know if he would even go through with finding this place, but he just wanted to know more. He dropped one of the coins dropped from the bag onto the paper, making sure it wouldn’t fly off.

He got onto his computer and typed, “What is Roosevelt??” He pressed the images tab to only see images of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He headed toward the maps tab. Only Roosevelt Hotel, or Roosevelt Island. 

Peter picked up one of his old family photos and pasted it onto the wall. He figured he might as well make it the centerpiece of his web of red tape. He pulled out the old articles of his father and pasted it onto the wall. 

He looked at his finished wall, most of them being red tape and pictures. It was so big, it even connected to his door. Peter picked up his web-shooter and sighed. “Tomorrow.”

~~~

“Blurry… blurry… oh, nice one of my elbow! Or knee, maybe… and this one would’ve been great! If my arm was two-feet longer…” Peter sighed, clutching the photos to his chest. He forgot to check it last night, and he had big expectations that morning… only to be met with disappointment. No way the Bugle would take any of it. Not only that, but Lightning Butt got away, and he had nothing to show for it.

“Peter! I just talked to Eddie…” Gwen’s voice quickly snapped Peter out of his thoughts. He quickly hid it behind his back. “There was an accident in the lab.”

~~~

Max’s life was _trashed._ And not only didn’t he recognize him, he attacked him… sorta. Not sure if he could’ve helped or even tried to help…

Peter threw his photos into the trash and walked down the hall, deep in thought. Liz shut her locker and gasped. “Petey!”

“Yeah, Petey… eh—look, I feel bad for ditching you last night… so, if you still want help, we can meet after school at the ESU Lab. It’s up to you.”

~~~

“Should we put him in the tank…? Use the bioelectric signature to siphon off—?”

“No. Won’t work, I’m afraid.” Connors turned to Gwen. “Eels evolved to exist in aquatic environments. Max didn’t.”

“And with the voltage he currently generates?” Eddie punched an open palm. “Boom. You don’t want him anywhere near water.”

“Petey?” Everyone in the room turned to the voice by the door. It was Liz.

Eddie turned to Peter, who shrugged at him. ““Petey”?”

~~~

“M-maybe this isn’t such a good time…” Peter said.

“No, go on. I need to check some results in my office anyway.” Connors headed toward his office and shut the blinds. Peter blinked, then headed toward the group.

“So, Eddie… you, uh… quarterbacking for ESU?” Liz asked.

“Nah… hung up my jersey in Midtown. Strictly a nerd, now,” Eddie said proudly.

“We’re all nerds, here.” Peter pulled at a glove and grabbed the hook. “You can be, too!”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Wonderful.”

“I’m serious, Liz, you’re smart. You can get this stuff.” Peter headed toward the stairs to the side of the eel tank. Liz followed. “You just need to look at it a different way—a _new_ way.” He dug his hand into the waters of the eel tank, looking to pick up an eel.

“ _Petey!_ ”

“In nature, everything’s connected.” Peter managed to pick up an eel, so he picked it up above water, watching it writhe around. “As scientists, we explore and expand upon those connections. Maybe as people, we should do the same.”

“Thought you said this stuff was boring,” Liz commented. Peter bit back the urge of saying, “Because you said so”.

“You’re lucky to have Pete as a tutor, Liz. Guy knows his stuff. Prob’ly a Nobel prize in his future!” Eddie said. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gwen pout a little. 

Martha opened the door to her husband’s office, a clipboard in hand. “I have the results of—” She walked in to see Connors with an injection gun at his right arm. “ _Curt!_ What are you doing?”

“I-it’s nothing.” Connors briskly walked to the door and closed it. “I can explain.”

“What is that?”

“An experimental bioformula. Genetically altered lizard DNA!” Connors said casually.

“ _What?!_ ”

The lights began to flicker in the lab. The circuit breaker started to react violently as the doors bursted open with electricity, with Max marching in. “ _CONNORS!!!_ ” He turned to the four and smacked his hands onto the table. “WHERE’S CONNORS?!” To try and intimidate him, he swept the lab materials off of the table. “You _really_ don’t wanna keep me waiting, kids. _Where’s_ Connors?!”

“Max! I’m right here.” Connors gently placed the injection gun on the table and raised a hand. “Try to stay calm!”

“Calm?! We left “calm” behind a lifetime ago, Doc! I can’t take it anymore!” Max jabbed an accusing finger at Connors’ direction. “ _You_ caused this— _you_ cure it!”

“We’re working on that, Max… I promise. We just need time.”

“I—don’t—HAVE— _TIME!_ ” Max roared, his hands placed on his head. “Cure me! _NOW!_ ” Max shot a beam of electricity near the Connors’ direction. “Before I _REALLY_ get upset…”

Max started advancing toward the two. “I know you can do it, Doc… all you need is just the proper motivation!”

Well, the secret identity thing was fun while it lasted. Peter was ready to take on Max, without his costume, because he wouldn’t have enough time. “I’ll distract him—you get the girls out the back,” Eddie whispered.

“What?! Eddie—no—!” Eddie charged at Max, but was thrown across the room, steam emitting from his jacket due to the electricity. He looked up to see Peter and the rest leaving. “Come on! In there, it’ll be safe!” Peter gripped Gwen’s shoulders and directed her toward the nearest building.

“Police emergency? There’s a—”

“Gwen! Gwen, wait!” Gwen turned to Liz while she was opening the door. “Where’s Petey?”

~~~

“Max, please… don’t hurt him. We’ll find a cure—we just need time.”

Max turned to him. “You’re LYING!” He used his electricity to slash the table and throw it across the room.

“Whoah, whoah… guys… I know it’s not exactly a cure, but how ‘bout some chill pills?” Peter slinked down in classic spider-like fashion.

“YOU!” Max swiped at him, but Peter flipped over him.

“Yeah, me… look, I messed up bad before, but now, I really wanna help.” Peter held out a hand.

“You wanna hold my hand?” Max gripped tightly at Peter’s hand, sending him across the room and toward the tables by the eel tank. “None of you get it! Without a cure, I’m not Max Dillon! I’m… I’m… what’d you call me?”

“Lightning Butt?” Peter asked.

“No.”

“Captain Sparkle Fingers?” 

“NO, NOT THAT! “Electro”… yeah…” Max removed his mask, electricity conducting everywhere. 

“ _I’M ELECTRO!_ ” Peter shielded his eyes from Electro’s blinding electricity as it flew everywhere. He saw the syringe gun get affected with the electricity, getting yellow particles of sorts from the electricity.

“Alright, Electro. You wanna vent? Then get!” Peter shot a web at a chunk of the table and flung it at Electro. Though, it didn’t really seem to do anything other than distract him. He dodged the electricity that acted as whips of sorts onto the railings of the second floor of the lab. Peter bounced off of the railing the second Electro shot electricity at him. He shot a web at the skylight but had to let go when Electro shot more electricity.

Peter flipped to the side and zipped to a wall, shooting a web at him and forgetting that his webs were still ineffective against him, causing him to get electrocuted and drop to the lab desks. Electro turned to see the Connorses helping Eddie out the lab. He was ready to use his whips against them, but Peter threw a monitor at him and wrapped him into a cocoon before securing the doorway.

“Gone… my only chance at a cure…” Electro quietly said. “And _YOU_ let them escape!” His electricity tore through the webbing and he charged at Peter, who ducked, causing him to slide on the desk and break a bunch of chemicals, causing them to explode. The explosion threw the cart that Peter was on to go to the webbing he had made and drift to a stop. Electro simply walked out of the fire. “That’s it… the gloves are off.”

He blasted Peter out of the lab with his electricity and into the pouring rain. Peter groaned as he flipped out of the way of Electro’s attacks. 

“Hah! That Bugle prize money’s as good as mine!” A bystander chuckled, his phone held aloft. But everytime he tried to get a nice shot, Peter would move out of the way to dodge Electro. “Spider-Man—stand—still!” Electro turned to him, a smirk spreading across his face. “Uh oh.”

Peter shot a web at the bystander and pulled him toward his direction. “Sorry, photoshoot is over. But if those shots come out, I want my cut!” Peter flipped away from the electricity. “Okay, Electro… the glove’s off for you… _on_ for me.”

He managed to grab a hold of the glove when he was blasted out of the lab. Peter shot a web at a streetlight and swung around it, grabbing Electro by the collar of his suit and slamming him with a wall. He chuckled. 

“Yeah, see? You can dish it out but you can’t—!” Electro landed a hit on him, throwing him into a metal tower. He massaged his hip for a brief moment, still eyeing Electro.. “Oh, me and my big spider mouth…” 

Electro chuckled loudly. “Can’t escape me up there, Web-Slinger! This is _MY_ playground!” He boosted himself toward the tower with his electricity. Peter flipped off of the tower, only to realize he was still inside. 

He shot a web at the ceiling and pulled as hard as he could to get away from Electro. He landed upside down but managed to grab onto the tower with his gloved hand as the tower kept conducting electricity. “Okay… maybe climbing the big metal tower wasn’t the brightest idea.”

Peter’s Itsy Bitsy ringtone started playing, and he groaned as he whipped out his phone. “Oh, where does that time go?” he pressed his phone against his ear and called May. “Hi, Aunt May!”

“ _Peter, where are you? You sound strange… and there’s so much static!_ ”

Peter managed to dodge Electro’s attacks by moving around, his hand still stuck to the tower. “Y-yeah, it’s bad connection. Listen, I’m running late again, but—”

“ _Peter, you’re taking advantage of our arrangement. Calling in late every night is not acceptable._ ”

“Uh—sorry, static—I’ll-be-home-soon-bye.” Peter hung up on his aunt and put his phone away. “Ugh, I am _so_ grounded… but considering the situation, being grounded might not be such a bad thing.” Electro started to climb up the tower, but stopped at the neon light. Peter shielded his eyes from the blinding yellow light and thought to himself that he needed a plan. 

Electro roared at him, but his electricity shot out of his mouth and caused the W to fall, crashing through the skylight and onto the nearby pool. “Or substitute that plan for the world’s biggest dunk tank!” Peter flipped off of the tower and swung in a circle around it before swinging in to kick Electro into the pool.

The electricity reacted by exploding into a big geyser, blasting through the roof. Peter looked down after the geyser had died down to notice the pool was empty, but only Electro still at the middle, his electricity dimmed down compared to earlier. He turned to his left to see a bunch of cop cars and leapt off of the building, swinging away.

~~~

Peter walked down the halls, still thinking about last night’s encounter and his conversation with Aunt May. That, he didn’t want to experience again. Ever. The sound of a locker closing snapped him out of his deep thought and he turned to see Liz. “Petey, what were you thinking last night?”

“Um… that… I should… try to help…?” Peter answered.

She raised an eyebrow. “And did you?” 

“Me? Uh, no. Ol’ Petey’s pretty useless, I guess.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“What’s Puny Parker doing here?” The two turned to see Flash, arms crossed, with Kenny and Randy by his side. 

Liz scoffed, flicking her hair at his face and hugging Flash’s arm. “Leaving, I hope!”

Peter sighed, turning around to join his friends, who were watching him. “Ah, Peter Parker. Another hapless victim of the wild, undomesticated cheerleader,” Harry said. Peter quietly turned to her.

“It’s her loss, Pete,” Gwen added.

“And hey, if the job was to help her learn, at least you taught her how to fold to peer pressure.”

Peter sighed, waving a hand. “No big. I reached out, and she knocked my hand away. You can’t control everything… the trick is to never stop trying.”

~~~

In the still-destroyed ESU lab, Connors still had his back bent over his office desk with notes on how to cure Max of his problem, the sound of the eels still running in the background. Martha placed a hand on his shoulder. “We won’t stop trying, Curt. But we can’t do anything more today. Come on. Let’s go home.”

Connors sighed, placing the pen down and following her. He paused at his injection gun. He quietly picked it up and glanced at it for a brief moment before hiding it in his lab coat pocket and walking out with Martha.


	4. Natural Selection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He growled lowly, wincing at the pain and shutting his eyes tightly. His pupils turned to slits for a brief moment before turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, sorry for the late chapter. I was originally planning to release it on the 9th of January, but Writer's Block and school happened, so I didn't finish the chapter by then, so if the last part seems a bit off, that's why.

Peter quietly positioned his spider-signal, with his camera already in place. He accidentally turned it on, the light being too hot and causing him to drop it immediately. “Yeesh—after tonight, you’re being retired, spider-signal…” 

“Remember, get the cash from the register and safe, but don’t eat nothin’. Mrs. M’s my great auntie.”

He slinked down in classic spider-like fashion and said, “So, you’ll rob the bank, but won’t touch the cookie jar? Wow. You must qualify for nephew of the year. Twisted division.”

“Spider-Man?! Get ‘im!”

““Spider-Man get ‘im”? _Really?_ Is that the best you got?” Peter dodged the crowbar easily and pushed the burly man down to shoot a web at the second one’s eyes, smacking his friend. “I mean, I go through all this trouble to turn you into famous spider-perks. The least you could do is keep things interesting. I always do!” Peter shot a web at the third in the back, but he dodged it.

Instead, the webbing hit three pies. One pie hit the guy in the back, and Peter angled it to make the two pies go up with him as he pushed the two thugs into a pole. He ran up the building and kicked the two pies into the criminals’ faces. “Really quite creative.” 

Peter spotted the third running away, so he shot a web at his foot and pulled him closer, then shot another web at the two belows. He pulled both webbings up and gripped the third’s shirt before pushing him hard enough to wrap around all three thugs. 

With that, Peter ran up a building and dropped his note, leaving it to flutter down to one of the cops’ hands. He crawled to his camera and sighed with content. “Now, let’s review that to-do list… stop a crime, check. Took pictures of my web-slingin’ self to win the Daily Bugle’s photo contest? Check-check.”

Peter shot a web at a passing train to swing onto the roof of the train. “Hightail it home before curfew, check-check-check… yup. For once, I’m makin’ all the right moves. All the smart choices…”

~~~

In the Connors’ house, Curt had just finished brushing his teeth. He stopped the tap and wiped the mirror in front of him, glancing at his lab coat and injection gun with a small smirk.

“Curt?”

“Uh, yeah. Right there, hon.” He walked toward the injection gun and shook it lightly before removing the top button of his pajamas to leave his right shoulder visible, injecting himself with the formula. He growled lowly, wincing at the pain and shutting his eyes tightly. His pupils turned to slits for a brief moment before turning back.

~~~

“I’m home! And before ten, thank you very much!” Peter said, bowing at Aunt May.

May turned to her letters and shuffled through them. “Peter, making your curfew with only seconds to spare hardly calls for celebration—”

“Aunt May, don’t stress, okay? I know you’ve been struggling to make ends meet, but that’s all about to change! Believe me!” Peter said as he walked up the stairs to his bedroom. He opened the door to his room, forgetting that the tape was connected from the wall to the door. “Reminder to get that fixed later…” he forced it open and connected his camera to his computer.

He had his mask, gloves, and leggings laid out on his bed, leaving only his top piece and boots on. “Yep… Aunt May’s troubles are over!” He pressed enter and lounged on his chair as he happily waited for his pictures to load in. “That Bugle prize money’s as good as—” the picture that loaded out was only a building and a giant white circle. 

“No… the window caught the flash…! They’re useless!” Peter groaned loudly, smacking his head on his desk. 

~~~

Kenny passed Flash a water balloon. “There’s Parker…”

“This is perfect! By the time we’re through, he’ll be a shivering, wet rat!” he chuckled. “I mean, more than usual.”

Peter sensed the water balloon and pretended to tie his shoes, dodging the balloon. “Dude, you missed,” Kenny said.

Flash clicked his tongue. “Dumb luck. Jerk’s lousy with it.” He raised a water balloon and shouted, “Hey, Puny Parker!”

Peter looked up and quietly dodged all water balloons, not even being hit once, leaving the whole foyer to mumble and comment at his sudden dodging ability. Secret identities reek. “C’mon, Quarterback, can’t you complete a single—”

He was hit by a water balloon, followed by a complete barrage of them, leaving the school to laugh at him. Flash was about to throw another one, and Peter was ready to take another, but Gwen stepped forward, shielding Peter. “Move, geekette! Or you’re next!

“ _Please,_ you haven’t got the game!” Gwen folded her arms, a smug look on her face. “If you could hit a target under pressure, would we have lost to Bronx Tech? You’d choke like a cat with a hairball!” The foyer was filled with “ooh”s in the air. 

Randy placed both of his hands on Peter and Gwen and looked at Flash. “Dude. Want some aloe vera for that burn?” he quickly turned to the two in his arms. “C’mon, Einsteins.”

Flash was left with a balloon crushed in his hand.

~~~

“Anything’s better than just standing there and taking it!” Gwen said the second Peter and her stepped out of the bus. 

“Excuse me? Standing there and taking it is Nerd Survival 101,” Peter said, wringing his shirt. “Besides, I’ve got bigger problems…”

“Still no Spider-Man pictures, huh?” Peter quietly nodded. “Pete, counting on that prize money for your aunt might not be—”

“What else am I supposed to do? I never asked to be broke, or semi-grounded…” Peter sighed, still waiting for his shirt to stop dripping. “…or smart enough to be Flash’s drenching board—”

Gwen placed her hand at Peter’s forehead. “You stop right there. I’m _so_ not letting you wish away your big brain.”

“So big, how can it not solve my problems?”

“Big, but unripe.” Gwen started walking ahead of him. “Give it time, cantaloupe boy.”

~~~

Peter opened the door to the ESU, but let Gwen go ahead first. Instead of the usual sight of the Connors family working around in the lab, it was only Eddie, sweeping the floor. “About time! The Connors are due back any minute.” 

“Here, Bro.” Eddie tossed a broom at Peter, who caught it with a confused look. “We’ve still got cleaning to—”

“Save it for later, kids! First, we celebrate.” The trio turned to the direction of where the voice originated to find the Connors family—this time, with Billy beside them, and a cart with cake.

“Ooh, cake!” Gwen commented.

“Chocolate!” Billy and Martha added.

“What exactly are we celebrating—?” Eddie had instinctively reached for Connors’ hand and shook it, until he realized—it was his missing right hand, but this time, with an actual hand instead of a prosthetic arm. “Your—your hand…! Your _right_ hand!”

Connors gave him a small smile.

~~~

The entire group—aside from Connors and Eddie—had started cheering for the two as they were in an arm wrestling match. After a few seconds, Eddie managed to overpower Connors’ right hand. He pumped his fist in the air. “Hah! Got you—” he hesitated, realizing what he had just done. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Are you _kidding?_ ” Connors responded, massaging his hand. “You know how _thrilled_ I am to lose at arm wrestling?”

“Doc, this is _huge._ your Lizard Formula’s the cure for, like, every lost limb and amputation in the world!” Eddie exclaimed, still unable to contain his excitement over their new breakthrough. “We’re talking _guaranteed_ Nobel Prize!”

“Slow down, Eddie… bad enough my husband used himself as a guinea—” When Martha placed her hand on her husband’s shoulder, she immediately paused to look at it. Her face told Peter that something was off, and her attempts at trying to suppress it was failing. She quietly turned to Billy. “Billy, Eddie installed Space Whackos Two on the monitor.”

“Whackos?! Cool!” Billy happily bounced up and down before running to the office.

“And close the door if you’re gonna crank the volume!” Martha called out. Billy did as he was told, and with that, she turned to Curt. “Curt, take off your shirt.”

“What, are you kidding? It’s freezing in here,” Curt responded.

“Curt,” she repeated, voice firmer. Curt shrugged and turned around to take off his shirt. And that—that was not normal. His arm had grown back, yes, but from behind, he had small markings that resembled scales that crawled up to his neck. 

“What?” He asked.

~~~

“Lizard DNA is more primitive than human… and the reptilian part of your brain is growing,” Martha said, voice dry. She turned to Curt, who had his back hunched over the black board which had the formula they were trying to work out. Though, his hand was shaking and stuck in place. As if something was stopping him from writing.

The chalk in his hand snapped in two. “It’s growing… I’m regressing. I can feel the change…!” Curt forced both hands over his head as he started groaning and shaking. New lizard scales grew, covering half of his face. 

“Curt, please, you need to keep a clear head.”

“No… _you_ need to hurry—I’m losing control.”

Eddie groaned quietly, lifting his head from the microscope. “The formula creates new reptile sequences faster than I can ID them… I don’t think we can knock ‘em all down,” he said.

Peter walked over to Eddie’s desk and placed a hand on his desk. “Wait, Bro… what if we worked from the _other_ end? Create a human DNA filter that knocks _out_ the lizard code? L-like a noise filter on a cellphone!” He suggested.

“Yeah. Nice try Bro, but—” 

“No, wait! That could work…” Everyone in the room turned to her as she placed Curt’s arm over her neck. “Like a… a gene cleanser!”

“Yes… yes, of course…! I should have seen it before. My notes—they’ll have all the data we need,” Curt responded.

“So it’ll remove any non-human DNA…” Gwen commented.

 _Even spider,_ Peter thought to himself, a thoughtful look on his face. He looked up to see Billy who peeped through the door. He hated conversations like these with children. Mostly because he didn’t know what he was doing most of the time. But if he wanted to be the kind of hero he imagined as a kid back then, a kind that could inspire hope, he would have to learn to do those types of conversations. Peter headed toward the door to see Billy typing away at the computer. “Hey, Billy… how long were you listening?”

“I don’t wanna talk about that,” Billy responded.

“Okay, um, what _do_ you wanna talk about?” Peter asked, placing his hands on the table.

Billy turned to face him, pulling up a book of lizards from his lap. He turned to a page of the book and pointed at a few lines. “The book says some lizards lay hundreds of eggs and never see them hatch.”

“Uh huh…”

“Most of the babies get eaten by predators. And the parents don’t even care.” He flipped to a page that had a photograph of a lizard that took up an entire two pages. “Because they only got lizard brains,” he whispered.

“Billy. Trust me.” Peter placed a hand on Billy’s hand. “Your dad will always care about you.”

Billy looked down. “Even if he turns into a monster…?” he said. The conversation was cut short with screams of agony from outside. Peter opened the door to investigate. What he saw was Connors thrashing about with veins popping up from his hands. Claws began to grow. 

Billy backpedaled toward Peter, who awkwardly placed both hands on his shoulders. Curt’s hands began to twist in very inhuman ways. He covered his face completely as Martha tried to hold on. “Curt!”

“I’ve made… a terrible… mistake…!” Connors’ skin completely turned into a dark shade of green as the scales kept on growing. He let out a shout of excruciating pain as his back grew what seemed to be spikes but it immediately retracted. A large tail grew from behind, sweeping the microscopes and test tubes off the desk. 

His head turned flat as his teeth started growing jagged. His eyes—they turned yellow with black slits as saliva began dripping from his mouth. He let out a screech as he destroyed the tables beside him and crawled to a wall before letting out another screech, his tail whipping behind him.


End file.
